The Bethesda Blog has word that The Scorchers DLC will arrive next week, bringing new content to RAGE, id Software's post-apocalyptic first-person shooter. Here's word on the content, which includes a new gameplay mode and the ability to play past the original game's ending:

Return to the Wasteland in The Scorchers, an all-new RAGE add-on from id Software – arriving on 360, PC, and PS3 next week for $4.99 (or 400 Microsoft Points).

In this brand-new adventure spanning six all-new areas, you will fight alongside new allies to defend the Hager Settlment from a maniacal bandit clan known as The Scorchers. Along the way, you’ll participate in a new season of Mutant Bash TV, encounter new mini-games, and wield the overpowering and brutal Nailgun.

In addition to the new content, this DLC includes ‘Ultra-Nightmare’, a new high difficulty mode, as well as an ‘Extended Play’ option that allows you to play past the original ending of the game – giving you the opportunity to finish collecting items and achievements.

Verno wrote on Dec 19, 2012, 23:04:In the end its all moot, Rage ultimately underperformed according to Bethesda and id and we will likely never see a followup. Hopefully they will one day make good on the promise to release the mod tools but in the meantime no one is telling you not to enjoy the game, just explaining why they didn't.

He's just explaining why he doesn't like their explanations so who cares.

How much did it sell anyhow? Nevermind looked it up myself, 1.47m all platforms worlwide. Bleuch. I remember alot of advertising for that game too. I bet EA is glad they passed on publishing to bethesda.

My problem with the game is that it feels like they just threw in features willy nilly without thinking if it worked in the game. The racing seemed like a good idea but they didn't go far enough with it. The collecting items is just make shift work. The travel doesn't make sense considering the size of the world. They go to the trouble of making towns but everything feels like a paper cut out, noninteractive and full of one off dialogue. Invisible walls everywhere despite constant loading between areas. I thought the guns and AI were were ok but they don't redeem the rest of the game being so bland.

I got it for $5 so I'm not mad about it but its easy to see why it failed.

netnerd85 wrote on Dec 19, 2012, 22:44:RAGE is an FPS shooter and it was advertised as such.

Critical graphical issues on launch pissed a lot of people off who have since not even bothered to go back to the game. Some so pathetic as the whinge about the file size (take a look around this is actually a big complaint - wtf? games aren't getting smaller).

Others, didn't like the story. Were confused that it wasn't Borderlands (or another RPG). Or simply didn't like the art style.

I'm not sure anyone was happy with the ending. We ALL wanted a boss fight I am sure.

Yeah no, I'm not buying that Rage was somehow unjustly accosted by an ignorant user base as the only reasons that people didn't like it or its poor sales. Not exactly a new issue either, peoples various problems with the game have been discussed to death here and all over the place.

In the end its all moot, Rage ultimately underperformed according to Bethesda and id and we will likely never see a followup. Hopefully they will one day make good on the promise to release the mod tools but in the meantime no one is telling you not to enjoy the game, just explaining why they didn't.

Critical graphical issues on launch pissed a lot of people off who have since not even bothered to go back to the game. Some so pathetic as the whinge about the file size (take a look around this is actually a big complaint - wtf? games aren't getting smaller).

Others, didn't like the story. Were confused that it wasn't Borderlands (or another RPG). Or simply didn't like the art style.

I'm not sure anyone was happy with the ending. We ALL wanted a boss fight I am sure.

netnerd85 wrote on Dec 19, 2012, 16:20:You keep "attacking" me as if I'm some kind of evil manipulator. I'm just expressing my opinion and replying to things that people said they didn't like. Happy to explain my point of view more. There does seem to be a lot of extra emotional baggage that people are bringing to the table. Do people hate/dislike the game because it does things so poorly or because their expectation of what it was going to be did not match up?

Nah I don't agree with assessment at all, seems like one person has been bringing emotional baggage about this game. I think people have been pretty explicit about the game all along in this topic and several others over the past year. The expectations vs reality thing doesn't even make sense, people have the finished product to judge and I've rarely seen expectations ruin an otherwise enjoyable product for people. Rage wasn't promised as an RPG and delivered as a strategy game anyway.

I think a lot of people didn't like it because it was ultimately a really flawed game in several crucial ways, regardless of how much you or I personally enjoyed it (or not). No one wanted this either, I recall people rooting for id and the preview reception was generally positive. Damned shame.

I don't know, it seems like you've been pretty aggressive in responding to other people about their thoughts on the game and generally spinning things surrounding it.

You keep "attacking" me as if I'm some kind of evil manipulator. I'm just expressing my opinion and replying to things that people said they didn't like. "lame" is not really the best criticism. You should offer more than "dont like, stupid" etc. What didn't you like dear friend... do explain your troubles with the game.

Happy to explain my point of view more. There does seem to be a lot of extra emotional baggage that people are bringing to the table. Do people hate/dislike the game because it does things so poorly or because their expectation of what it was going to be did not match up?

If you think a movie is going to be an action movie and you get a thriller do you judge it by your expectations of action movie or adjust for the new situation of thriller?

I don't know, it seems like you've been pretty aggressive in responding to other people about their thoughts on the game and generally spinning things surrounding it.

As someone who bought the game for full price on release day I was disappointed in multiple aspects of the game but the largest was the mod tools which were continually promised with the release of the game and then neglected thereafter. I don't care if it happens to other games because we're talking about this specific one at the moment.

. It isn't going to help to yell and scream and kick like a child though? is it? There need to be understanding all round. It's not easy to develop a game. It's not easy to make money. And it's impossible to please everyone.

I don't see that happening here. People were really understanding about Rage considering the state at release time and the subsequent issues, long time between patches and lack of promised mod tools.

I'm not being "so defensive". I just haven't followed all the press leading up to it. So I don't have all those promises being broken to me. I was mildly interested because it was id software, the same way I am mildly interested when epic games say something. I'm not a massive fan of either company.

I really like RAGE and thought it was a good mix of FPS and RPG elements. Obviously it's a shooter first and RPG very very last.

Does it suck that it's taken so long? Of course but these things happen. They happen ALL the time. Mafia 2 took 8 years and was butchered. Duke Nukem Forever... we all know. They are still good games, they don't live up to any of the hype or fantasies we held in our minds. It happens in our gaming world.

Developers need to tell publishers to shut up and stay out of managing expectations. Developers need to deliver. It isn't going to help to yell and scream and kick like a child though? is it? There need to be understanding all round. It's not easy to develop a game. It's not easy to make money. And it's impossible to please everyone.

I've decided that being negative about such things really isn't helping anything. So I'm doing my best to talk to the people that make games and offer feedback that can actually be used. Derping doesn't help. Ripping apart doesn't help. Sitting down and taking the time to look at something and go "ok, heres the issue and a possible solution" does help.

Developers want to make good games. Publishers want to make money and Players want to play good games at fair prices. Being at each others throats has got us no where. Let's not scare them off into the mobile game market where only shit is made for general day office retards. PC Gamers need to step up.

netnerd85 wrote on Dec 19, 2012, 11:06:They have said "soon" a lot but this is really the first actual time frame.

Revisionist history, they said it would be released with the game itself in numerous interviews. Then it was a bunch of nebulous soons in between long bouts of silence. I'm not sure it will make a difference at this point anyway so I'm long over the disappointment, I just don't see any reason to believe them until it actually happens.

And yes the fans that like the game - the people that visit the official forums are excited. Just because you - someone that doesn't care - doesn't mean the entire human race shares your opinion. RAGE has plenty of fans.

So exactly what I said then glad we agree, a minority of diehards who still care about the game. I have no idea why you are so defensive about this game.

someone has promised that the last remaining issue with releasing the Rage tools will be fixed over the Christmas break...

Months of broken promises make this a non-starter, they've literally said the same thing before. I can't imagine anyone outside of a few diehards care about Rage tools anymore, even the patient will have likely moved on.

They have said "soon" a lot but this is really the first actual time frame. And yes the fans that like the game - the people that visit the official forums are excited. Just because you - someone that doesn't care - doesn't mean the entire human race shares your opinion. RAGE has plenty of fans.

someone has promised that the last remaining issue with releasing the Rage tools will be fixed over the Christmas break...

Months of broken promises make this a non-starter, they've literally said the same thing before. I can't imagine anyone outside of a few diehards care about Rage tools anymore, even the patient will have likely moved on.

theyarecomingforyou wrote on Dec 15, 2012, 16:25:Doom 3 I felt was when id Software started going downhill, with derivative and uninspired gameplay with graphics that were technically impressive but generally unappealing. RAGE was simply a disaster - a game that was obviously designed for consoles and that suffered one of the worst PC releases I've come across.

Doom 3 technically wasn't a bad game, the real problem was both Doom 1 and Doom 2 had cartoony graphics and Doom 3 didn't feel in any-way related to the classics. It felt like it was it's own seperate universe un-connected with the first two games.

It really should have been called something else. I wasn't so much disappointed in Doom 3 because it was a bad game, but because the game itself was not made in the same style and spirit as the first two games.

I'd love to see someone make a real sequel to doom 2 using the same kind of cartoony based art aesthetic and just fill the game to the brim with awesome. Something like serious sam 1 would be what I'd be shooting for, for a true sequel to Doom 2.

Doom 3 and the upcoming dooms are basically stand-alone games in their own separate universes unrelated to the first two.

MajorD wrote on Dec 15, 2012, 01:59:RAGE was a major let down for me and seemed to be an insult to most PC gamers and id fans.

Some of you posted that you really liked it, but needed to go back and finish it.........it couldn't have been all that good if you weren't inspired to finish it.; I certainly wasn't. Just a thought......

You see my games list? I rarely finish games in a timely manner. I have video game ADD.

You're crazy man! Doesn't it stress you Out having that many unfinished games? How do you sleep at night?

Suppa7 wrote on Dec 15, 2012, 11:36:No it's not, as someone who gamed back then. I liked doom 2 better then quake 1 as a single player game.

Same. The transition from 2D to 3D was very jarring for the FPS and RTS genres. It may sound controversial to some but I much preferred Doom 2 to Quake 1, in much the same way I preferred C&C: Red Alert 2 to Emperor: Battle For Dune or C&C: Generals. The original Alone In The Dark is another pertinent example - it was ground-breaking for its time but graphically it was a mess in comparison to 2D games.

Quake 2 was when 3D games came into their own and it would truly revolutionary for its time. Quake 3 continued that trend, though I felt UT was the better game and was better graphically (aside from the lack of curved surfaces ). Doom 3 I felt was when id Software started going downhill, with derivative and uninspired gameplay with graphics that were technically impressive but generally unappealing. RAGE was simply a disaster - a game that was obviously designed for consoles and that suffered one of the worst PC releases I've come across.

Wuh? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you probably weren't PC gaming in 1996. It was the only online shooter for it's time, it introduced 3d gaming, and later was one of the only reasons to have some of the first 3d graphics cards as well as paving the way for so much of what we have today in netcode. Quake was groundbreaking innovation, and for it's time, it was amazing and I don't see how this can be denied. Graphically alone, I was floored the first time I'd fired it up.

Sorry an opinion is an opinion, but Quake being shit? That's just an insult to PC gaming.

You were floored by the unilaterally brown textures?

Quake did two good things: excellent multiplayer and interesting sp levels. Other than that, it was in no way, shape or form as interesting to play as Doom, or Duke Nukem.

Respen wrote on Dec 15, 2012, 05:52:Sorry an opinion is an opinion, but Quake being shit? That's just an insult to PC gaming.

No it's not, as someone who gamed back then. I liked doom 2 better then quake 1 as a single player game. I thought Q1 was bland and rather boring, the multiplayer was where it shon but by that time I had already played multiplayer doom 2 on LAN and Duke Nukem 3D. As well as warcraft and Descent 2 over Kali.

There were other better games back then, if Quake 1 was your first first person shooter it would seem awesome. But quake 2 was infinitely better in terms of its multiplayer, especially CTF and Quake 3 roughly equalled quake 2 multiplayer after the mods came out like threewave and rocket arena.

Quake 1 was a rather poor single player game compared to Duke nukem 3D and this is undeniable. Duke 3D was probably one of the most fun multiplayer games back then during that time period. But there were a lot of good games competing for any serious gamers attention. I had my time divided between warcraft 2, descent over Kali and later Quake 2 CTF and starcraft 1.